Boston middle-market private equity firm BV Investment Partners made a majority investment in C.F. Stinson, partnering with the family owners of the textiles company. Keith Stinson and Glenn Stinson, the third generation of the family owned company, will continue to manage the target and maintain an ownership interest.

C.F. Stinson, based in Rochester Hills, Michigan, designs and markets textiles for commercial interiors, including customers in the hospitality and health care sectors. The company uses a “tech-enabled” textiles sample system developed by its subsidiary, Sample Technologies, to allow customers access to its fabrics and order samples. The Sample Technologies software sits on the desktops of designers, allowing them to custom design furniture or other objects with fabric.

BV is a PE firm focused the information, business services and communications sectors. Stinson was an attractive investment target because the business is “mission critical” to both suppliers and customers, says Andrew Davis, BV managing director.  Also, a substantial amount of the company’s business comes from the growing demands of the U.S. health care industry.

Sean Wilder, BV principal, says the PE firm plans to grow Stinson through both acquisitions and through organic expansion, similar to the way it managed the firm’s investments in  ECRM and Plasco ID—business-to-business, software-driven companies. BV has invested more than $2.7 billion in 84 companies since its beginning in 1983, targeting investments in the information and business services and communications industries.

Recently, in April, the Riverside Co. announced it was purchasing another textile distributor to the health care and hospitality sectors, Momentum Group, from Norwest Equity Partners. The evolving health care industry in the U.S. in the wake of the Affordable Health Care Act, or Obamacare, has been frequently cited as a source of middle-market M&A. Recently, those deals have ranged from patient eligibility, claims and collections businesses, such as MedData Inc. acquiring Cardon Outreach LLC, to cloud-based software developers.